Most Read on Bloomberg in January: El-Erian’s Exit, Stocks Fall

Audrey Barker

February 2, 2014, 1:10 AM EST

The following list comprises the

Lists are based on monthly statistics through Jan. 31.

STORIES

1. Gross Heir Apparent El-Erian Quits as Pimco Sees Redemptions

Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Mohamed El-Erian, widely viewed as the successor to Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross, resigned after six years as the firm struggles to stem record redemptions from the world’s largest bond fund.

2. Stocks Fall as Slide in Emerging Markets Sends Bonds, Yen High

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Global stocks tumbled the most since June, as the biggest drop in emerging markets in two months prompted investors to seek havens in Treasuries, German bunds and the yen. Natural gas reached a three-year high.

3. Shocked Gross Told El-Erian ‘Hell No’ Seeking to Stop Departure

Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- When Mohamed El-Erian first told Bill Gross several weeks ago that he wanted to leave to "recharge the batteries," the co-founder of Pacific Investment Management Co. was "shocked" and "discouraged."

4. Fed Seen Sticking to Gradual Tapering of Purchases

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve will stick to its plan for a gradual reduction in bond purchases, economists said after a government report showed that U.S. employment rose at the slowest pace in three years in December.

5. JPMorgan Technology VP Dies in Fall From London Headquarters

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- A vice president in technology operations, Gabriel Magee, died after falling from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s London headquarters, the bank said today.

6. U.S. Stocks Tumble as Treasuries Rise With Gold After China Data

Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks slumped, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding to the lowest close in a month, while Treasuries rose after a gauge signaled a contraction in Chinese manufacturing. Emerging-markets equities slipped and the dollar retreated while gold and natural gas climbed.

7. U.S. Stocks Sink With Emerging Currencies After Fed; Yen Climbs

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a two-month low, while Treasuries and the yen gained as the Federal Reserve said it would make further cuts to economic stimulus and as emerging-market currencies weakened. Gold and natural gas climbed.

Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- BlackRock Inc., the world’s biggest money manager, agreed to end an analyst survey program that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said could be used to execute trades based in part on nonpublic information.

10. Frigid Air Threatens Coldest U.S. Weather in Almost 20 Years

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The coldest air in almost 20 years is sweeping over the central U.S. toward the East Coast, threatening to topple temperature records, ignite energy demand and damage Great Plains winter wheat.

COLUMNS

1. Bankers Elated That Sheila Bair Is Joining a Bank: Jonathan Weil

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Sheila Bair, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s chairman from 2006 to 2011, has been hired for a new gig as a board member at the Spanish lender Banco Santander SA. This seems to have gotten some people upset, even riled.

2. Cohen Seems Oblivious to Trading Law: William D. Cohan

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- You’ve got to figure that if the Justice Department had the goods on Steven A. Cohen, the billionaire hedge-fund manager, we would know about it by now. For years, the U.S. has been investigating allegations that Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors LP is little more than a sandbox for insider traders. Cohen, the ultimate prize, has so far evaded Justice’s clutches.

3. Bill Ackman Has a Short-Sale Lesson for All of Us: Jonathan Weil

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- One of the market’s best-performing stocks yesterday was a company called World Acceptance Corp., which makes small loans to people whose finances are in dreadful condition, many of whom can’t even get a credit card. This is a lucrative business, as long as the cops don’t clamp down too hard. And so far they haven’t, notwithstanding the efforts of some hedge funds that have shorted World Acceptance’s shares.

4. Soros May Make Next $2 Billion Off China’s Enron: William Pesek

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- George Soros probably shouldn’t expect any warm invitations to Beijing -- not with the much-reviled short seller warning of a giant Chinese crash.

5. Kim Jong Un’s $5 Trillion Price Is Worth Paying: William Pesek

Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- As Park Geun Hye searches for ways to compete with China and Japan, the South Korean president is eyeing a rather surprising ally: Kim Jong Un.

MULTIMEDIA

1. Draghi Bolsters Pledge to Keep Rates Low to Aid Economy

Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- European Central Bank President Mario Draghi speaks at a news conference in Frankfurt about the decision to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low 0.25 percent, inflation expectations and the asset-quality review of the region’s banks.

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Larry Robbins’s Glenview Capital Opportunity Fund gained 84 percent through Oct. 31, making it No. 1 in the annual Bloomberg Markets ranking of the best-performing large hedge funds. David Goel’s Matrix Capital Management Fund came in second, followed by John Paulson’s Paulson Recovery Fund. The ranking is a featured article in the February issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine.